Hi, I want to use this medium to examine vital elements of literature in English.
The following elements of literature in English goes a long way in students laying a solid foundation towards their knowledge of the subject.
1. Litotes:
the use of negative statement to present positive opinion. Example= God is not
imperfect (God is perfect).
2. Synecdoche:
using a part to represent a whole or vice versa. Example= two heads are better
than one (two people are better than one)
3. Epigram:
a short witty saying. Example= more haste, less speed
4.
Rhetorical
Question: question that requires not answer. Example= why am I in this
mess?
5.
Climax:
systematic arrangement of idea or expression in descending order.
6.
Anti-climax:
the opposite of climax
7.
Repetition:
occurrence of expression more than once.
8.
Theme:
main idea in a literary work
9.
Plot:
arrangement of events or actions (either linear or non-linear)
10.
Tone:
attitude of the writer towards the work of art
11.
Mood:
attitude of the reader towards the work of art
12.
Flashback:
relating the past to present occurrence
13.
Dilemma:
to be confronted with situation to make choice.
14.
Setting:
when and when action or event take place
15.
Didactic:
literary work that teaches lesson
16.
Monologue:
speech by a single person
17.
Soliloquy:
thought expressed aloud
18.
Aside:
speech addressed to self or audience
19.
Allusion:
partial reference to character, history, mythology or work of art
20.
Satire:
work positioned to ridicule some vices
21.
Melodrama:
drama with high emotional effect
22.
Mime:
actions without words
23.
Fable:
short story told to teach moral lesson
24.
Parable:
a story involving human being which teaching moral or religious lesson.
25.
Invective:
direct abusive, vituperative, denunciatory attack
26.
In Media
Res: starting a story at the middle of crucial action
27.
Epidectic
Poetry: verse for either praise or blame
28.
Eulogy:
praise poem such as ode, encomium, epithalamium, panegyric, etc
29.
Palilogy:
repetition
30.
Caricature:
ridicule person by distorting or exaggerating the features
31.
Dues ex
Machina: hope of recovery out of trouble
32.
Poetaster:
a quack poet
33.
Burlesque:
work aimed at provoking laughter in other to ridicule
34.
Carpe
Diem: motif in poetry which refers to the view that one should enjoy life
to the fullest while one is able
35.
Bard:
poet in modern usage
36.
Belles-Lettres:
genre of literature different from scientific writing
37. Catharsis: change of emotion resulting
from strong feeling of sorrow, fear, pity, or laughter
38.
Travesty:
work aim to arouse laughter by imitation of a serious work
39.
Hamartia:
tragic flaw
40.
Lampoon:
violent and satirical attack against a person or institution
41.
Genre:
form of literature
42.
Hubris:
pride of tragic hero
43.
Fantasy:
creation of unreal world and people that look like real one
44.
Rhetoric:
language of a work and its style
45.
Roman a
Clef: novel where characters are real people but disguised
46.
Periphrasis:
roundabout expression, verbosity, circumlocution
47.
Poetic
licence: the right of poets to distort language, history, geography for the
sake of art
48.
Pastoral:
work of art written to represent life of shepherd or country life
49.
Idyll:
short poem that describes an incident or interesting scene or event
50.
Image:
picture in the mind
51.
Imagery:
painting picture of the mind
52.
Farce:
extremely funny comedy with ridiculous action
53.
Parody:
imitation of another work of art
54.
Poetic
Justice: term used to convey the idea that evil is punished appropriately
and good rewarded
55.
Poetic
Diction: usage of language
56.
Poesy:
the making of a poem
57.
Tirade:
a violent speech, long and denunciatory
58.
Picaresque:
novel that tells adventure of a wandering rogue or rascal
59.
Causerie:
informal essay or article on literary topics
60.
Cento:
term used for collection of bits and pieces from various writers
61.
Catalects:
literary works which detached from main body of a writer’s work
62.
Prologue:
introductory speech at the beginning of work of art
63.
Epilogue:
concluding speech at the end of work of art
64.
Epimythium:
summary of moral lesson placed at the end of a fable
65.
Promythium:
summary of moral lesson placed at the beginning of a fable
66.
Lake
Poet: poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey
67.
Local
Colour: describing details peculiar to certain region or environment in
order to add interest and authenticity to a narrative
68.
Logomachy:
a dispute or fight about words
69.
Roman
Feuilleton: novel published serially in newspaper or journal
70.
Verisimilitude:
story that has resemblance to the truth and therefore has the appearance of
being true or real even when it is a fantasy
71.
Triplet
(Tercet): three stanza poem
72.
Triads:
group of three stanzas
73.
Epithalamion:
poem about wedding praise
74.
Harangue:
a lengthy and aggressive speech
75.
Ballad:
short folk poem about heroic deeds that is lyrical
76.
Trochee:
a foot consisting of stressed syllable followed by unstressed
77.
Dactyl:
a foot consisting of one stress syllable followed by two unstressed
78.
Anapaest:
a foot consisting of two unstressed followed by stressed
79.
Spondee:
a foot consisting of two stressed followed by stressed
80.
Saga:
a work of art about culturally historical narration of lineage
81.
Limerick:
witty five line poem with specific end rhyme
82.
Metanoia:
retracting of statement made
83.
Allegory:
a work of art that used symbolized events or characters
84.
Chiasmus:
the use of parallel statement where one is invasion. Example= the first shall
be last and the last first
85.
Canto:
division of stanzas into multiple groups
86.
Rhythm:
the count of meters
87.
Meter:
measure of stressed and unstressed syllable
88.
Enjambment:
run-on-line
89.
Polysyndecton:
the use of many conjunction amidst a statement
90.
Tmesis:
insertion of a word between another word. Example= some maybe thing (maybe
inserted in something)
91.
Symbolism:
representation of idea. Example= Piano and Drums in Gabriel Okara’s poem
(symbolises modern and primitive)
92.
Rhyme:
sameness of sound between lines
93.
Rhyme
Scheme: the sequences in which rhyme occurs at the end of lines in poem.
94.
Quatrain:
four successive lines in poetry.
95.
Refrain:
any repeated word, phrase or expression
96.
Subject Matter:
the basis of a narration or story. It can also be considered as the background
story.
97.
Paradox:
an absurd statement which is meaning in deeper sense example= money
spent is money saved.
98.
Stage
Directions: this is the written instruction of the playwright which guide
every act and scene
99.
Character:
the instrument of the writer or the creator of any work of art
100.
Characterization:
the formation or configuration of character
101.
Onomatopoeia:
using sound to signify action. Example= the zooming bus
102.
Metonymy:
calling something by its related attribute. Example= I haves read all Shakespeare
(instead of saying I have read all books written by William Shakespeare).
103.
Irony:
saying one thing and meaning another. Example= The thief barked at the dog
104.
Euphemism:
replacing harsh or irritating statement with mild and simple one
105.
Dialogue:
exchange of idea between two or more character
106.
Action:
the activeness or inactiveness of character in literary work_ mostly drama
107.
Hyperbole:
the exaggeration of statement or opinion
108.
Suspense:
the state of anxiety or expectation in the reader or audience
109.
Conflict:
the bone of contention or the cause of disagreement
110.
Cast:
a list of selected participants for performance with specific roles to play
111.
Hypophora:
the use of response to a rhetorical question.
112.
Apostrophe:
this is a rhetorical call which demands no response
113.
Anaphora:
this is use of repeated word or phrase at the beginning of a line. Example=
God
is able. God is abundantly capable. God is the alpha and omega.
114.
Anagram:
the rearrangement of words or phrases to form another word or phrase.
Example= bad credit forms debit card
115.
Acrostic:
the first letter of line in total spells a word. Example= Cuddly, Acrobatic,
Tenacious,
Softly
purring..
116.
Poetic
Drama: this’ a play written in verse form. Example= Murder in the Cathedral by T. S.
Eliot
117.
Dramatic
irony: the reader or audience already knows what one or more characters do
not know
118.
Protagonist:
also called the hero_ plays the most prominent roles
119.
Antagonist:
also called villain_ opposes the protagonist
120.
Anti-hero:
very prominent character but lacks the qualities expected of hero
121.
Sarcasm:
insincere praise to ridicule someone or something.
122.
Pun
(Paranomasia): play on words. Example= the congregation prays while the
pastor preys on them.
123.
Peripeteia:
the beginning of a character’s downfall
124.
Personification:
giving human qualities to inanimate objects. Example= trees groan as they fell
125.
Proscenium
Arch: the space between the stage and where the audience sit.
126.
Chorus:
this is a group of actors in a drama pronouncing a singular opinion.
127.
Malapropism
(Catachresis): the intentional misuse of word for the purpose of creating
literary effect.
128.
Deunuement:
the point of solution in a drama after so much conflict.
129.
Motivation:
the consistent reason for a character’s actions.
130.
Portmanteau
Word: the fusion of two meanings into a single word. Example= slithy
(meaning lithe and slimy).
131.
Prompter:
this is the person who reminds the actors or actresses of their forgotten lines
through whisper. Also called the-actor-off-the-stage.
132.
Anachronism:
the intentional displacement of time in a literary work.
133.
Anastrophe
(hyperbaton): the use of inversion. Example=
to
thine own self be true
134.
Flies: space
over the stage for storing things such as drop curtain, scenery, etc.
135.
Scenery:
object for creating fictional setting on a stage.
136.
Wings: the
spaces at the edge of stage where preparing performers stay before entering the
stage.
137.
Crew:
the totality of non acting members who supervise the activities.
138.
Pathetic
Fallacy: attributing human feelings to inanimate or animals. Example= the
sad trees screamed for freedom.
139.
Transfer
Epithet: the use of wrong adjective to qualify something. Example= I
rested on my emotional pillow (instead of, I emotionally rested on my
pillow) .
140.
Meosis:
the use of understatement. Example= Mr. Tunji lives in a matchbox.
141.
Aphorism:
a sharp observation which accepted to be true. Example= a
penny saved is a penny earned.
142.
Colloquialism:
use of informal language such as slang in a work of literature.
143.
Frame
Story: a story within a story. It’s a companion to the main story.
144.
Anthropomorphism:
the projection of non-human like human. Example= a cat wearing a wristwatch.
145.
Zoomorphism:
giving characteristics of animal to human.
146.
Motif:
image, idea, sound, word that helps in explaining the theme.
147.
Assonance:
the successive use of vowel sounds in a line of close proximity. Example=
thou still unravished bride of quietness. (the
repetition of “I” sound)
148.
Alliteration:
the successive use of consonant sounds in a line of close proximity.
Example= the furrow followed free.
149.
Bathos: the
unintentional overuse of empathy which becomes ridicule.
150.
Bildungsroman:
the novel for growth or information
151.
Parallelism:
the presentation of two similar phrase or clause for the purpose of
creating balance. Example= my country is in hardship; my countrymen are
in poverty.
152.
Antithesis:
the presentation of two opposite phrase or clause for the purpose of
creating balance. Example= those that I guide, I do not love. Those
that I fight I do not hate.
153.
Audition:
the stage examination for the purpose of selecting actors for a certain
play.
154.
Producer:
the person in charge of the financing and organization of drama.
155.
Genre:
the division of literature.
156.
Aphorism:
a simple saying that is generally accepted truth.
157.
Exposition:
introduction of actions that will lead to conflict
158.
Tragic
hero: the protagonist in a tragic drama.
159.
Hero:
the protagonist in a work of art.
160.
Heroine:
the female protagonist in a work of art.
161.
Projection:
this is the opposite of flashback.
162.
Metaphor:
use of indirect comparison. Example= she is boiling with fury
163.
Simile:
use of direct comparison. Example= she is furious like a boiling water
164.
Isocolon:
the use of words with similar length. Example= we want, we ask, we get.
165.
Tautology:
this is the overuse of words that has just a single meaning. Example= I
have a twin brother. (Instead of I have a twin or I’m a twin).
166.
Oxymoron:
placing two contrasting words side by side. Example= such sweet sorrow
167.
Juxtaposition:
this is the comparison made between two ideas
168.
Mixed
Metaphor: this is use of two metaphors that have the same meaning in a line
or sentence
169.
Extended
Metaphor: this is the use of two metaphors in a line or sentence.
170.
Synaesthesia:
displacement of qualities. Example= the odious sun is no more.
171.
Dramatis Personae:
the sum total of participants in a drama
172.
Atmosphere:
psychological background of a literary work.
173.
Couplet:
two successive rhyming lines in poem.
174.
Stanza:
group of lines in poem.
175.
Verse:
metered stanza
176.
Playwright:
writer of drama or play
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December 01, 2025
